"I'm delighted Pope Benedict is sharing his Christmas message with the Radio 4 audience," said Gwyneth Williams, the controller of Radio 4. "It's significant that the Pope has chosen Thought For The Day to give his first personally scripted broadcast – and what better time to do so than on the eve of the biggest celebration on the Christian calendar."

I'm delighted, too, because we can be certain that the Pope's crystal clear and vigorous Christmas Eve message will be nothing like the usual insipid blatherings of the TFTD regulars.